


Memories from Pieces

by GottaArc



Series: Shadowed Truths [2]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Other, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24546088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GottaArc/pseuds/GottaArc
Summary: You woke up with a strange sense of deja-vu. These people, these voices....they all sounded familiar. Your mind was spinning; why did all of this seem so close to you? What was happening? Who even were you? These obstacles being placed in front of you...you knew you could fly through the tests with a breeze...but why? And why was the creature--this hedgehog--so familiar in your eyes? His crimson orbs brought a strange memory back to you, but you couldn't make it out. You couldn't possibly have known him before...there was no before...was there?(Shadow x Reader)
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Reader, Shadow/Reader
Series: Shadowed Truths [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774030
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	1. Deja-vu

You woke up in a strange room. In fact, everything was strange. Your own body felt like it shouldn't be there.

"W-where am I?" You ask, sitting up slowly. You found that even moving was a sort of phenomena. You look over your own hand, somewhat amazed by its very presence in front of you. "Who am I?"

"Your name is Y/n. Agent Y/n of G.U.N." Comes a sudden voice. You jump to your feet, taking up a strange stance, to your own surprise. "At ease, soldier....." A woman appears with a tight smile. "I'm Beatrice. I'm here to help you remember what happened. Please, sit back down." Not really knowing what else you could do, you take a seat. The woman remains where she is. "Unfortunately, you were involved in an accident a few months ago, which placed you in comatose and has wiped your memories. You woke once last month, and you have been in rehab ever since. We believe that you can return to work now." She offers yet another tight smile. "We have a new mission for you."

All of this was rattling your brain. Your head hurt. "Really?" You ask slowly. The woman, Beatrice, nods at you.

"Yes, but seeing as it is your first mission back, we will be assigning you a partner." She turns sharply on her heel. "Please follow me."

You stand up, not knowing what else you really could do. You pause by the door, looking at a little s/a sitting on the desk. Why did that rugged old thing seem so familiar.....

"Agent Y/n, I advise that you hurry up," Beatrice calls over her shoulder sternly. You nod, jogging to catch up with her.

"Sorry...." You mutter, walking closely behind her. She turns down a hallway, and opens a door that leads out into a lobby of some sort. You look around. All of this felt so familiar....maybe it was because you had been here before while working. She had said you worked here before getting into that accident. You nearly crash into Beatrice when she comes to a sudden halt.

"Agent Y/n, I would like you to meet your new partner." You step to the side, looking to where she was motioning.

E/c eyes met crimson eyes.

"Agent Shadow, this is your new partner, Agent Y/n."

*****

You stare at the rugged old beat up (s/a) on your desk. You still weren't sure why you had it, or where it came from. It was just...there. When you asked Beatrice why you had it, she simply shrugged and said that it had been a personal belonging of yours. As far as you could tell it was trash; all torn up, burned, missing an eye...but you just didn't have the heart to throw it away.

It had only been a week; at least, that you could remember. After you really woke up, it had been difficult for you to readjust. During the training exercises that the organization had been going through, your body almost seemed to know what to do on it's own; it's like fighting had become some sort of reflex to you. They gave you a gun, too. When you had held it, it had felt cool and familiar in your hands, and you found that you could hold it steadily when shooting.

The hard part was dealing with your assigned 'partner'. Sometimes, the agency would try to put you both in training together; they were preparing you both for a mission, after all. This 'Shadow' character was hard to deal with, though. You found that he hated interacting with you for some reason. You couldn't remember doing anything cruel to him, so his distance made no sense. Although, some part of you could understand it.

You jumped out of your thoughts when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." You call out gruffly. You already could take a guess at who it was.

"(Y/n), it's time for your last session before heading out," Beatrice announces, walking in casually. Not even a 'Hello', but that's to be expected. You stand up, dusting yourself off lightly.

"Okay," you reply simply. You follow Beatrice out of your room, closing your door behind you. You both begin to wander down the dim-lit hallway, passed the stranger who ran the computers. You were no doubt heading for the elevator.

"Beatrice?" You begin hesitantly as the two of you step in. The woman blinks slowly, as if acknowledging you. You continue cautiously. "I've been meaning to ask you...what was I like before the accident?" It was an innocent enough question, but you figured that it was a touchy subject for G.U.N. in general. It would only make sense for them to be sensitive about their best agent getting such an injury. (At least you had been told that you were one of their best agents. You couldn't help but wonder who the others were, but you didn't seem to have many chances to ask questions).

Beatrice was silent for a moment, as if she was contemplating whether or not to tell you.

"You were fierce. Hard-working. Very intimidating, if I'd say so myself. But you got the job done, and I admired you for that," She finally replied. You hum. That wasn't entirely what you meant, at least not completely, but you knew better than to pry further. It was just that something at the back of your mind wanted- no, needed- to know more of this obscure story everyone keeps telling you.

The elevator comes to a jerking halt, and the door opens to a larger, more active floor.

The both of you immediately step out, and walk to your familiar 'training' area. You were expecting the familiar feeling of being watched as you walked in. Beatrice seemingly disappeared, as she always did. The door almost seemed to melt into the wall. You hum, awaiting whatever obstacles they would be throwing your way. Something felt off though; it almost seemed as if someone else was in the room. Your eyes scanned the vicinity, but you found nothing. The feeling would not go away.

The usual targets began to appear; only holograms, but if they managed to make any form of contact with you the agency could send a shock directly to you. You weren't even entirely sure how. All you could assume was that it had something to do with the floor itself. It was, after all, a high-tech room in itself.

Your gun is out in a flash, aiming for the 'weak points'. You manage to hit the appropriate place in the hologram, and it disappears. Before you can shoot at the next target, a blur of red and black kicks up an unbelievable wind in the room. You squint, trying to see better.

The wind suddenly stopped. Your eyes widened.

There was not a single target left.

Only a black and red hedgehog remained. His crimson eyes glared in your direction, and he seemed overly disappointed in you.

"If you can't learn to be useful, stay out of my way," He growls. His voice sends a chill down your spine, but not the kind that meant you were scared. This situation felt familiar for some reason...

You narrow your eyes at the hedgehog as he leaves the training facility, but say nothing.

An exit appears at the opposite side of the room, and Beatrice stands waiting for you. Shaking your head, you move to join her. Must just be deja-vu.

"I see you and your partner are off to a rocky start," she mentions, raising an eyebrow. You shrug.

"Can't help it if he doesn't like me," You respond. Beatrice only hums, although you detect a hint of a smirk on the corner of her mouth.

"Right. I'm sure you both will eventually learn to work together, as begrudging as it may be." She come to a sudden halt, whipping out a vanilla folder from under her arm. You give her a questioning look, taking the folder.

"What is this?" You ask, casting the paper-filled object a wary look.

"That, Agent y/n, is your mission. We expect you to be ready to begin working at 06:00 hours."

You open the file curiously, and frown a bit.

Why was this your first mission??


	2. The First Time

You stood on the roof of the building you were sent to infiltrate.

"Isn't this a bit simple?" You frown, speaking into your communicator.

"For the first time back on the job it's not. I think that you just might find this a bit harder than you are imagining, Agent," the static-like voice of Beatrice comes through your earpiece. You sigh.

"Isn't that Shadow guy supposed to be here helping me?" You ask, carefully prying open a power box. You peer in at the wires, immediately setting to work at shutting down the security system of the building.

"Originally yes, but the agency had second thoughts. They thought it best to let you run on your own for a while to ensure that you would be able to handle yourself well."

You snicker slightly. That's a hell of a way to look at it.

"Twenty bucks says they just think that Shadow guy would have finished it without me even helping.." You grumble lowly to yourself. You pull one final wire, quickly reattaching it to another port so that it would seem like nothing had ever changed. You hum in satisfaction, and head for the rooftop door. It takes no time at all to pick the lock; you enter cautiously, creeping down the stairs. You were nothing but a shadow in the night.

Your mission was simple enough; you had to creep down to the third floor and retrieve a file necessary for gathering information on some illegal activities happening. No big deal, right?

You had hardly made it down a few steps before you noticed the first camera. You took a good long look around; there were cameras practically lining the walls. From the looks of it, they hadn't gone down with the security. Which meant one of two things (or possibly both); either there was a guard somewhere in the main control room or you were simply being recorded. It was better to assume that there was a guard somewhere in the building; after all, if G.U.N. was trying to get a hold of this file it was most likely important. Important items were often guarded heavily; that is unless an idiot was in charge of it.

"Is there a guard watching the cameras?" You question quietly.

"We're finding that there's someone on night watch in the halls of the third floor. The guard watching the cameras is snoozing, actually. Quite a lazy soul he seems to be," Beatrice retorts through the line. You merely nod, continuing on your way to the third floor.

You come to a stop at a corner, peeking around to see the expected guard standing alert. You hum, flicking a small rock at the wall across from you. You manage to hit the wall just hard enough for the cracking sound to echo throughout the nearly empty hallways. The guard turns his head in your direction and makes his way over.

"Who's there?" He asks in a threatening tone of voice. He stops almost directly in front of you, and you manage to sneak around him just as he turns his flashlight in your direction. You slip in the door he was standing by. Taking a final look around to check for any other security measures, you begin sorting through the many drawers filled with papers.

"I don't understand why this damn file is important, but I guess if it's worth breaking in over it must be something big," you mutter quietly.

"Don't forget the computer, Agent Y/n," Beatrice reminds you. You sigh, pulling out a drive and plugging it into the computer sitting at the large desk. It didn't take long for you to begin downloading the database onto the drive. You continue to shuffle through files, looking for any with particular keywords. You finally spot one, and pick it up, taking a glance at the contents inside.

Project 36-R, chaotic energies-

Ignoring the sudden pounding beginning in your head, you swiftly tuck the file under your arm before standing up and taking the information-filled flash drive from the computer.

The door suddenly slams open, and the guard begins shooting into the room.

"INTRUDER!!!" he screams. You manage to evade his shots in the dark (he seemed to be a horrible marksman) and quickly manage to get close to him. Close enough, actually, that you send an uppercut straight for his jaw and knock him unconscious.

You step over his body, rushing downstairs. There were shouts coming from every direction; it seems like the place had more people on gaurd than originally thought.

"Get out of there, Agent Y/n!" Beatrice practically shouts through your earpiece.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" You shout. There are gaurds with guns rushign up the stairs towards you, and the ones that were chasing you were catchign up quickly. You curse under your breath. The only option you had was a window the your right; so you took it. Using the butt of your gun, you shatter the glass and leap down two levels to the ground in an alleyway. You stumble a bit upon landing, but it isn't long before you regain your footing and rush off into the darkness. You can hear the shots ringing out in every direction after you, and you could have swore one of them might just have grazed your leg. But the adrenaline coursing through your veins was enoguh to keep you going.

And so, just like that, you disappeared into the night, never to be seen by the gaurds again.

Checkpoint reached.

***

"So what exactly is in the downloaded files?" You question daringly. Beatrice quickly takes the drive and shoves it into her pocket quickly.

"Did you find any physical files on the subject?" She asks, ignoring your question.

"Just this one before the guards came charging in," you respond, holding it out to her. She takes that hastily as well.

"Well done, agent y/n. You had a good first time back; rather successful. Your next mission will be much more complex than a simple retrieve. You'll receive the necessary information within three days." Beatrice begins walking away swiftly. You almost have to jog to keep up with her.

"Is it another solo mission?? When will I be leaving for it?" You try asking her questions, but she simply ignores you.

"I expect you to be ready by the date specified within the file, agent. For now, get a bit of rest," Beatrice states. Before you can say anything else the elevator doors slam closed in front of you, and Beatrice is gone. You sigh.

For some reason, something about that file you received sat strangely in your mind. Something bothered you. What is was? You had no idea. But some voice in the back of your head told you that you were going to have to find out more than what G.U.N. was willing to tell you.


	3. A Memory?

A woman with e/c eyes fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face. She was hysterical.

"No! Please, no! Don't take my baby, I'm begging you!"

There was a gunshot, and you saw her form slump to the ground.

"That should shut her up."

Everything started to blur together; suddenly, something was lapping at your legs, climbing up your body. You could hear yelling from somewhere. It was distant; like it was being muffled.

"Y/n! No, no! Let us go!" There were loud bangs, but they quickly faded. You felt your lips cry out for something, Someone, but you didn't know who; you couldn't hear your own voice. The substance which had been lapping at your legs was now at your waste. You could make out some sort of conversation. There were blurry figures that you could see through the walls of what you could only guess was some sort of container. It was as if the container was filling faster; the liquid had now risen to your throat, and your body was feeling heavy.

It began to flow into your mouth, your nose; you were gasping for breath. Whatever this was, it wasn't water. It was thick, like molasses. And yet it was still fast, still able to flow. It was choking you, filling your vision. You weren't able to float up, to try and breath. It was like something was holding you down.

There was a distant gunshot, but you were more concerned with the fact that your vision was fading fast. You couldn't die now, not when you had something to live for-

You woke up with a start.

Your sheets were damp; you yourself were drenched. You took a long, shaky breath, holding your head in your hands.

What....what was that? A...a scream? In your dreams? Who was that woman you saw? She seemed familiar, but why? And who had you called out to?

You shake off the memory of the nightmare you had just had and glance at the clock at your side. It was almost 2:00 am. You sigh.

It had been two days. It was the day you would set off on your mission with your strange partner. You lay back down in your bed.

You wouldn't admit it, but you were nervous. This mission was big; much bigger than the simple retrieval mission you had gone on first. Not to mention, your partner already seemed to hate you and you both had barely even said 'hello'.

Speaking of your partner, you were rather curious about him. He seemed so familiar to you...had you both worked together at some point before you lost your memories in that accident? Nah, otherwise he would remember me... you thought to yourself. Maybe you had just seen him around G.U.N.? Yeah, that was probably it. From what Beatrice said, he was a big deal around the agency. He was powerful; you had witnessed it first hand. His reputation made sense. and yet Beatrice said you yourself were nothing to sneeze at, although you couldn't quite understand how that was. You were just an average agent.

Your eyes begin to wander around the room. You spot the files for the mission on your desk and giving up entirely on going back to sleep, you get up and begin getting ready to leave for your mission.

*****

Beatrice was surprised when you opened the door to her.

"Time to go..?" she trails off, confused. You nod, walking past her. Your bag was slung over your shoulder. It was loaded with every weapon you could find in your room, as well as the files for the mission. You weren't sure why, but in a split-second decision, you grabbed that old s/a. Probably used it as a good luck charm or somethin' before the accident. Grabbed it out of habit, you reason. It seems like no time at all before you are on the top floor and making your way to the first difficult mission you would endure. A part of you was nervous; after all, this was important. You had been a top agent before; the commander must expect only your best now. Another part of you was feeling hesitant; it all unnerved you in a strange sort of way. The fact that that hedgehog would be working with you only made the feeling worse.

You kept at Beatrice's heels as you were walking, but your mind wandered to the dream you had the night before. You kept wondering why that voice calling out your name had sounded so familiar. Actually, you were curious as to why the entire scene felt so...real. Who had it been that you had called out for?

"/n!" You snapped out of your thoughts and looked up at Beatrice. She frowns at you. "I said that you were going to be meeting Shadow in a conference room before you leave. The mission was going to be further discussed with the both of you; while the files give you a basis, the complications need to be addressed." Beatrice stops next to a black door, taking a deep breath. She turns to face you with a serious look on her face.

"Y/n," She begins. You raise an eyebrow questioningly. This was the first time she had ever just called you by your name, with no formalities. "Before you begin this mission, I would very much like to tell you a few things."

"Go ahead," You nod, giving her permission to continue.

"I very much admire you, and your spirit. In these past weeks in which we have been working together, I feel as though I have experienced a new side of you. I would appreciate it if we might be considered friends..." She trails off awkwardly. You smile softly at her, the corners of your lips barely tugging into a smile.

"I accept, Beatrice." You say firmly. She smiles at you. Before you can comprehend it, she gives you a hug.

"I truly felt as though taking care of you was a privilege, Y/n. Please be careful on this mission. If you need anything, please inform me through this number." She hands you a slip of paper. She offers her usual tight smile, and steps to the side. She looks around. "Oh, and please do not inform anyone else of this encounter. I could be fired."

You nod. "Of course, Beatrice. Thank you." Taking another deep breath and slipping the small paper into your pocket, you step into the room.

It was tense. Shadow was leaning against the corner, arms crossed. You could feel his crimson eyes on you as you entered; they were practically boring holes into your skull. The commander was standing at the front of the room, and you could clearly see the piles of files spread out in front of him.

"Agent L/n," He nods in your direction, "glad you could join us. Take a seat." You nod, quickly making your way over to the small table in the center of the room. You sit on the side farthest from Shadow; you were close to the files, and you could also see where he was. For some reason, You didn't enjoy having your back turned to others. It gave you an unsettling feeling.

"As both of you know, you will be working together on an important mission. This is an important mission in itself; actually, the fate of thousands of people relies upon this mission," He begins. You listen intensly; you would not miss anything. "Your mission is first to track down a weapon. It uses chaotic energies and is thought to be extremely dangerous. We aren't entirely sure what, exactly, it does. But with that much power, we don't need anyone to tell us it's dangerous. That is where the both of you come in." He glances between Shadow and yourself. "You are both highly skilled agents in your own ways. I'm sure that upon coming into contact with this weapon, you would be able to porperly handle it and bring it back to us." The commander throws a single file in front of you. "For now, this is all you need to know. There's your lead; the information we have currently gathered about it." He moves to leave, but Shadow stops him.

"What's the catch?" He asks gruffly. You too, looked at the commander expectantly. You weren't entirely sure what he meant by a 'catch' in the mission, but you were sure that it might have been important. Every bit of information was important.

"No catch," the commander says after abrief hesitation. You noted that the pause seemed strange for someone of his stature. "Just make it out alive and with that weapon, and you'll both get soem tiem off and a good payload." He quickly leaves the room, and suddenly it's just you and Shadow. You turn aroudn to meet his gaze.

"So..." You start, picking up the file in front of you. "I suppose we should start by looking over this?" He sends you a glare.

"I already did."

You sigh, but send him a forced smile. "Oh, I guess that's good then! When I'm done we can start right away!"

He snickers, walking to the door. "Just stay out of my way."


	4. Ditching

You weren't just angry; you were furious. A livid flame dances in your eye.

First, this hedgehog has the nerve to try and dismiss you from a mission which the both of you were to work on, and then he disappears for a whole day. This was mutiny.

The commander very clearly states not only that you two are to work together, but that the mission is of utmost importance, and he just takes off. Does he really think he can solve it all on his own?? Track down some mysterious weapon?

Of course he does. He's the special agent Shadow the Hedgehog.

While he was away doing who-knows-what without you, you decided to do some reading. You looked over all of the accessible files on the mission of course (for some reason you were denied two specifically. You noted it at the back of your mind but otherwise focused on the available information). But when you had already looked over everything, you decided to look at his information. You didn't really discover much; or at least, it didn't feel like much. You learned a little bit; he was an experiment from something called the Ark. It was destroyed long ago; it puzzled you because nothing more was mentioned about it. Maybe it's a sensitive topic for the agency? You snicker quietly at the thought. You were sure that a place like this had its fair share of secrets. But you also knew that you probably didn't want to delve into them; that would be suicide in an uncountable amount of ways. things were better left under covers.

"Did you finally finish doing research?" a gruff voice suddenly rumbles from behind you. At an almost impossible speed your gun was drawn and pd at whoever it was.

Speaking of the devil...

You lower your weapon, putting it away swiftly.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on me like that. You might get hurt." You sigh, sending a glare to the dark hedgehog. He snickers, seemingly amused.

"I doubt you could." He responds bluntly. "You didn't answer me."

"I finished reading up on the files." You growl back. He was really trying your patience...

"Good. Then you already know most of the leads are useless." He adds. You furrow your brow.

"Yeah...those are some pretty cold trails, even I can see that... they certainly stuck us with a tough one..." You grumble lowly. Shadow's eyes dart around, like he was watching for someone or something that might pop out at any moment. Something about this subtle action put you on edge.

"Something wrong, Sh-Agent Shadow?" You ask curiously. For some reason the formality felt strange rolling off of your tongue. You had almost just called him Shadow, as you would have a common colleague. Though you figured that someone like him wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

He huffs. "Nothing. I don't know why you'd ask a stupid question like that." he turns and swiftly begins walking. "Come on, we've got some people to tail."

You follow him wordlessly, still confused by his actions. You were going to tail someone?

The silence between the two of you remained awkward and tense. You walked down the many twisting and turning halls of the agency, and took the elevator to the ground floor. You nod to the secretary as you pass. He ignores you, only sparing a short glance your way.

You just keep following Shadow; you weren't even sure why you were. It all practically screamed 'suspicious'. Why would he ditch you and then all of a sudden drag you along with him.

"Alright, stop giving me that look," Shadow grunts once you were both out of radius of G.U.N. 'You're practically boring into my skull. I get that you don't trust me, and I could do without a runt like you, but we've got to get over it."

You were slightly surprised; as brash as he was, he was practically offering yourself a spot with him in the mission. But that just pissed you off.

"Oh, excuse me, your highness," you hiss. "That my abilities don't satisfy your needs, but YOU are the one being a fucking asshole. I honestly don't think you take me seriously at all. So you can take your pinstriped ass and do whatever you want, but I'm going to finish this mission." You glared deeply into his crimson eyes; something familiar flashed behind them, and you recognized it as rage.

"I...despise you. But I stole those files they wouldn't give us, and you are in them so you'd better just listen." He growls. This caught your attention. You were in the files related to the mission?...

You hesitate but decide that just maybe, you should listen.

"There's a file..." He trails off. "And there's a man mentioned in them who has your last name. He looks like you. I don't think that's a coincidence, do you?"

Your mind began racing. A man who looked like you? With the same last name? That could mean a range of things, but it certainly made it hard to say that You weren't related to this person in one way or another. A brother? A cousin? A father, perhaps?

"How old was he?" You ask, in hopes of narrowing your options. 

"Doesn't matter now; he's dead. Killed by the agency." He huffs. "What does matter is that he was involved in the development of chaotic weapons, and that's why G.U.N. killed him." He huffs, an intimidating glare piercing into your own e/c eyes. So I'm the one being interrogated... You growl in your mind, eyes glaring right back with as much viscosity as you could muster up. 

"I don't remember anything from before my accident. Sorry." You reply hastily. "I'm assuming that was the entire reason you even want to deal with me; because I'm your only lead. Sorry to disappoint; but you're out of luck." You spin on your heel, walking away from him. He growls.

"Where are you going?" He shouts. The anger was suddenly very obvious in his display.

"I'm going to start the investigation, and you can go and fuck off!" You scream. If this really was your only lead, you'd need to do some digging. Not only on the case, but on yourself.


	5. Familiar Names

You weren't even sure where you were going to begin looking. You doubted that files and information were going to simply be handed to you, not without the authorization required. G.U.N. held it's secrets tightly; getting into them was no easy task. Not to mention the weapon you were in charge of finding with that impudent soul you called a partner. If the agency was worried about it, it must truly be a threat.

Because it's a great idea to put a fresh agent on a big mission, you snicker to yourself. Although you weren't exactly a 'fresh' agent...

You begin to develop a plan; first, you'd have to find some sort of access point to gain information from. Your options split in two at this point; you could either break into the physical files (stored camera) or find a way to hack into the system and access any digital information the agency might have (which would involve the risk factor of being both tracked and discovered; it was possibly even more risky than just taking a key). Weighing the options, you decide to just get into the physical copies. The cameras could be disabled easily a short period of time, and not be an issue; but someone would ave them back up in no time. But then there was the complication of actually getting into the security room and implanting a bug in the circuit....

"I thought we were supposed to be doing some digging."

You almost wish you could pull the trigger of the gun you whipped out on instinct.

"Dammit, Shadow, stop that." You huff. "I told you that I wanted to do some digging on my own."

"You keep forgetting that this is my mission too," Shadow grunts. He pulls out a key.

"I'm guessing you were wanting to break into file and evidence storage the hard way. I already have the key; cameras don't matter, it won't look suss if we were 'allowed' in." He tosses the key to you, and you catch with ease. You purse your lips and narrow your eyes at him, but say nothing, accepting his help. You turn sharply and begin heading in the direction of the room; Shadow walks with you, sticking closely by your side. For some reason that closeness felt both familiar and uncomfortable.

You stop in front of the door, sliding the key in and quickly entering the room. You wander around the shelves filled with strange materials and bf every kind imaginable. Drawers filled with papers lined the walls, and any previous evidences was categorized and placed among the shelves.

"You find the files, I'll be examining any evidence available." You state. Shadow doesn't even nod; he just begins looking through the required drawers. You begins scanning the multitude of labels on the shelves and scribbled writing on the boxes. You stop at one marked up with a date that for some reason caught your interest. You pull down the box, examining the contents. There were a lot of pictures; a few files; a bullet in a tightly locked bag (the residue reminded you that this was real evidence). You dig through the pictures; there were readily available pictures of blood spatters, and the scene after it had been cleaned up. There was another sealed bag holding an old rusty pocket knife with an engraving of a name that you couldn't really read. There was a picture of the victim; a woman who had been shot in the head. Her face was often times blurred, except for in one picture which was carefully preserved and had probably been taken from the household. It was of the woman and a man in a uniform; they must have been much younger in that photo. He was a rather happy looking man, content with the woman (who you guessed to be his wife) in his arms. You recognized her as the one who had been shot. You suddenly felt pity pouring from your very soul for the man. The way he looked at her with such loving adoration; wherever he was, he must have been torn to pieces by her death. You could practically see his dull e/c eyes now.

"Find something?" Shadow asks gruffly. He had four yellow folders tucked neatly under his arm. Something possessed you to keep the photo; and so you did, shoving it hastily into your pocket.

"Nothing yet," You reply, sliding the box back into it's previous position.

"...Fine. I'm going to go sit and read up on the case. Keep searching." Shadow spun sharply to go and read somewhere off to the side. You blinked, raising an eyebrow. Why had he hesitated like that? Shaking your head, you continue looking through boxes.

You found a few pieces of evidence that might help; they were placed in rather odd places, often in categories that were completely unrelated to them. It was like someone had already done through everything and just switched it all around to make things more difficult.

But then, you found a singular clipping that could finally give you a lead.

You gathered the files, images, and clippings you had found among the numerous wet looking for Shadow. You found him hunched over some papers, a concentrated look on his face.

"Hey, I found some things we could use." You state. "But I suggest we go here first."

You held out the newspaper clipping.

Mad Scientist?

Scientist Alfred Landing arrested for misconduct and sent for psychological testing, the masses believe that they saw him running with some strange weapon containing a jewel....


	6. Trails

It didn't take long for the both of you to find the institution where your suspect was held. It was in your city, only a short drive away. The whole drive was silent; neither you nor Shadow said anything. You did notice his eyes darting in your direction every once in a while, but other than that he paid no mind to you. You were trying to pinpoint what exactly made him seem to loathe you, but you couldn't really think of anything you had done to him (at least nothing that you had done first).

"We're here..." You say, parking on the side of the road. Before getting out, you frown at Shadow.

"Alright, spill." You command. Shadow raises a brow at you.

"What?" He questions, seeming annoyed.

"You've been giving me weird looks the whole drive. What the hell is up with you?" You continue. He furrows his brows, glaring at you.

"You're out of your damn mind. Let's just get this over with." He gets out of the car , slamming the door. You huff, but follow. Something was going on in that mind of his and you were going to figure out what eventually.

The both of you walk up the stairs, and into the institution. It was an old building from the outside; but the inside was to-date as could be. You approached a woman behind a large desk and smiled politely at her, Shadow standing behind you.

"How may I help you?" The woman asks. You flash a badge provided to every agent under G.U.N.

"I'm investigating a subject that was reported to have been here a long time ago, under the name Alfred Landing. Can you give me any information?" You ask with obvious authority. The woman, unfazed, turns to her computer and looks something up.

"He was with us a long time ago; would you like me to print off his info for you?" She questions. you nod, and wait patiently for her to retrieve the files for you. When she comes back, she hands you a small stack of papers.

"Thank you," you say with a nod. The desk woman simply nods you off, and both you and Shadow leave the institution."That was surprisingly easy..."  
You trail off, getting into your vehicle.

"Too easy..." Shadow grumbles. You roll your eyes.

"I'm just glad to have this...now question is, where should we head next?"

"...I know a park that is usually empty..." Shadow finally suggests gruffly, breaking the silence. "We can go there and gather together our thoughts and the new information." You were surprised by his suggestion (you honestly had begun to think that maybe he didn't even care all that much) but you nod, starting the vehicle.

Shadow gave you precise directions to the park as you drove through the city. When you finally got out of the car, you grabbed your bag and shoved the files into it, following closely behind Shadow. At first he stayed on the pathway, but he quickly took a detour, pushing past shrubbery and branches.

"Where exactly are we going?" You ask with a raised brow.

"There's a large plot of land where the city had meant to build a pond, but the funding was needed somewhere else..." He mutters. "I happened to stumble across it." You don't respond; you simply continue following Shadow out. You both finally stumble across the space he was speaking off, and you marvel at how vast it actually was. You were honestly surprised at how empty it was.

"Are you sure it's private here?" You ask with a raised brow. Shadow huffs, sitting down next to a tree.

"it's more private than sitting in that camera-infested car..." He grumbles. You sigh, but understand what he's meaning and sit next to him. You whip the files out of your bag, and begin reading silently. It was quiet between the both of you for quite a while. You couldn't help but feel like someone was watching you. Finally, the feeling too intense for your liking, you look up to see Shadow almost glaring at you. There was a strange gleam of frustration in his crimson orbs, and his brows furrowed tightly.

"What is it?" You ask, raising a brow yourself.

"Have we met before?" He asks with pure authenticity. You were purely surprised by this question.

"Well, yeah. We met in training once before the mission," You answer, confused. Shadow shakes his head.

"That's not what I mean. I mean before that. For some reason I feel like I know you, and it's been bugging me...." He trails off gruffly.

"I wouldn't know," You reply slowly. "I was in an accident about a year ago. Just woke up recently. Had to retrain myself before coming out on the field again." Shadow's eyes flicker with a strange emotion.

"An accident, huh?..." He mutters. "That's funny...I was recently woken up as well...just...from something different..." He trails. You could tell that it was a sensitive topic, and so you didn't pry.

"Maybe we worked together sometime and don't even know it?" You suggest jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood just a bit. Shadow snickers.

"Yeah, sure. Or maybe I just caught a glance of you in the hall or something."

You roll your eyes. "You must think I'm a weakling or something. There must have been a reason I was one of the top agents," You suggest loosely.

"The way you handled those training bots is all I need to know." He huffs back, crossing his arms. You shove the files back in your back and stand up.

"Alright then, let's go." You stay stubbornly, staring down at the hedgehog in front of you. He stares up at you, unamused.

"I'd obliterate you." He states flatly. You narrow your eyes.

"Fine, then just go easy if you really think I'm that weak, jerk. Unless you actually think you couldn't beat me," You begin, an idea forming in your mind. Shadow blinks once, then twice.

"No." He replies just as bluntly.

Alright, time for plan B....

You charge at him, fist flying. Of course, you missed; he blurred out of the way at last second.

"I told you, you-" He stops, processing the fact that you were now pulling your fist out of the tree and muttering curse words. It was an almost clean hole. You frown, inspecting the small scrape on your knuckle.

"Aw, man!! That's gonna take a couple days to fix up..." You frown.

"You..." Shadow trails off, admittedly just a bit confused. "How-"

"What? I just hit the tree," You say with a raised brow. You glance at the hole. "That? Isn't that what's expected of an agent?? Everyone told me that G.U.N. agents are trained to the peak of performance, and this is the result!" You chuckle nervously. It was true, wasn't it? At least that's what the trainer had explained to you...

*****

You stare at the unfamiliar pile of rubble in front of you that had once stood as a wall in front of you. This didn't feel right...You had never seen Beatrice break something like that!

"I didn't mean to break it!!! I'm so sorry!!" You turn nervously to the lead trainer watching you, noticing that his pen was flying across the pages on his clipboard.

He smiles softly at you. "It's perfectly alright, agent! That's perfectly normal!" he exclaims. You furrow your brow, highly confused.

"It....is??? How come I've never seen anyone else do that?" You ask, confused. Beatrice had never shown any clear amounts of strength. Neither had any of the other humans you came into contact with. Why was everything so easy to break?

"Well," the trainer begins, sliding his pen into the clip of his clipboard, "You, much like all the other G.U.N. agents, have been trained to the peak of performance for a lengthy period of time! Your incredible strength is a result of the intense training you went under before you unfortunate accident, Agent Y/n. I assure you that you were like this before your incident, and before you entered a comatose. You haven't witnessed the immense strength of other agents like yourself because you have yet to encounter them." He assures. You nod slowly. Could this really have come from months, or even years, of training? You really weren't sure what to believe, and this was all you had as of yet. So, you began to nod slowly. You couldn't think of any other possible reason behind your immense capabilities.

"I suppose that makes sense...."

*****

Shadow blinks slowly, eyes wandering over the hole left in the tree trunk.. He seems just as confused as you had been upon discovering your strength.

"I've never seen another agent do that...." He trails off, furrowing his brows. You wave it off, shuffling awkwardly.

"Well, you're super fast, right? I don't see you breaking things all that much with your fists though...they told me that ea is different..." You falter. You shake your head subject. "Maybe we should just get back to work, I'd hate to hit you too hard on accident...." You toss your backpack at him. "Read em, they're in there..."

He grunts, opening the backpack and raising an eyebrow. Your own eyes go wide with realization; had forgotten about the s/a. Shadow gingerly picks it up, looking over the old beaten object.

"What is this?" He asks, almost sounding curious.

"Nothing important!!" You cry, practically stumbling over yourself to retrieve it from his grasp. He easily moves out of the way, still clutching it tightly.

"Then why carry it around with you?" He frowns, furrowing his brows. His eyes were still focused on the black bits all over it; it was like it had been burnt or something. You pause, not even sure how you were going to answer him.

"I...don't know...I just feel like it's important to me...it has been since I woke up..." You trail. Suddenly, something seemed to come to the forefront of your mind, and before you could even process what was happening, it came spilling from your mouth. "Someone gave it to me." You blurted. This vague memory gave you a strange feelings; e/c eyes, staring warmly down at you and holding out the brand new s/a with glee. The woman's mouth was moving but you don't really catch what she says. Your heart is ready to burst, and you find that your eyes begin watering. Why you were reacting in this way, you had no idea. Had something happened to her? What was she to you? Could she have been your mother?

Shadow stares at you with a respectable countenance for a short while before sighing. He walks stiffly over to you, holding it out awkwardly.

"Don't start crying, Agent Y/n. Just take it back. It brings back some bad memories for me." He growls. Though you were curious as to what he was remembering that could have possibly related to the s/a, you gingerly take the creature back, putting it back in the bag. You hold out the files for him, remaining silent. He takes them, and nods at you in acknowledgement before disappearing at an impossible speed. You figured that he knew you needed some alone time, or maybe he needed some alone time. You weren't really sure. All you knew was that something strange had just transgressed between the two of you, and it was something more than you could process at the moment.


	7. Anomalies

You just sat there for a while, clutching the small animal. It plagued your mind; the memory. The woman with that same stuffed animal, the way she had been smiling down at you.

You must have only been a child then; you couldn't have been very old.She could have been your mother.

Something compels you to pull out the image you had keifed from the evidence room, and you take a good long look at the man and woman in the photo.

You kept trying to keep a grasp on her appearance, but it had hardly been there in the first place. The memory was fading from your mind quickly, but you kept trying to cling on to the little details that had been so vivid only moments ago.

They faded, as though being blown away by the breeze.

Your gaze trailed up, landing on the large hole your fist had left in the trunk of that tree. Your expression was blank, but a million thoughts were suddenly running through your head. 

You needed to learn more, to look at your files, but they said the same thing you had been told-- you had been an agent for years, you were in an accident, you had ost your memories. They mentioned nothing about your peak physicality, but you had assumed it was because that was not necessarily a major detail due to the fact that it was just soemthing all agents had. 

You grew tired of rolling in the turmoil of your mind, and sand quickly. The s/a is held tightly in your grip, and you heave a hefty sigh. You were not sure how long you had simply been sitting there, but you figured it must be time to head back to your car. You weren't really sure where Shadow had gone, but you assumed he was smart enough to figure out that you had decided to wait in the car. 

It honestly surprised you when that was where you found him; sitting in the car, some papers in hand. He hardly spared you a glance as you slid into the drivers seat. You hastily shoved the s/a into your bag. Shadow kept his eyes on the paper while you did so. 

"Any revolutionary breakthroughs?" you ask. You were only being partially sarcastic. 

"Not much worth noting. He was a lunatic with a taste for messing with powers he didn't understand," he responds. "He has no living relations, no friends on file, no one." He throws the stack of papers onto the dashboard seemingly frustrated. "So much for a lead."

"Is there anything in there on his reseach?" You question, fiddling with the steering wheel. 

"Nope. The residence he had before being turned in to the hospital was recorded, but with as long ago as it was, I'm sure someone else has moved in."

"Doesn't hurt to check, does it?"

You turned the key and the car roared to life.

*****

It was just an apartment. Like Shadow had pointed out, there were new residents there; the landlord was unlikely to have just left the apartment there, after all. The next best bet had been to interrogate the landlord.

"Landing? That Lunatic?" He had questioned, sounding rather confused. "You mean he's atill out there somewhere? I thought he had bee thrown in the crazy house for sure-"

"He was administered to a hospital for the mentally ill," You butted in, correcting him. "Unfortunately, Mr. Landing passed away sometime ago."

"What can you tell us about him," Shadow demands, jumping straight into it. The landlord shrugs. 

"Not a lot; he paid me for a few months rent at a time, so the guy had some serous cash. Once got a peak and saw he had all kinds of strange science crap in there, but he usually kept to himself and never let anyone in, not even me. When he cleared out he took all his junk with him." 

"Did anyone ever come by that you know of?" You ask.

"Just some guys in suits, probably came to drop off his paycheck for whatever it was he did," he answered.

"And you're sure that's all you ever knew about him?" You push, trying to avoid letting any form of desperation seep into your voice. You were a proffessional, and you were determined that you would a least act as such.

"Nope, that's about it..." The landlord seemed unsure.

"There's soemthing else," Shadow states, glaring intensly. A shiver visibly runs down the man's spine at a single loom from the hedgehog.

"Well....well, I did breach the contract once! I snooped in his mail and found a letter from a woman...she was probably his wife," He continues. You frown.

"Did you read her name?" You shoot out. He shrugs.

"Can't remmeber it. Just remember seeing the mail and thinking that the poor woman had no taste." 

You hum, frowning. This was at least soemthing, considering that anyone who had to do with this Landing was probably dead or wanted nothign to do with him anymore.

"Thanks," You mutter quietly, turning to leave. Shadow narrows his eyes at the landlord, but follows after you.

"So he had a family then," Shadow mutters.

"Yeah...but where could they be now?" You mutter.

"Probably dead, if G.U.N. had a say in it," Shadow states flatly. 

"It just doesn't make any sense though, does it?" you ask abruptly, turning to him and frowning. "We're loking for this weapon that is supposed to be some huge threat, but it was created by a dead man, who happened to be killed by G.U.N? Why didn't they apprehend the weapon when they had the chance?" No matter how you cut it, it ept running circles in your mind. He had to have had some accomplices, or some sort of outside support. He was obviously being funded in his research before he lost it.

"He probably kept it somewhere else with someone he trusted, if he had any sort of common sense," Shadow grumbles. He hums, frowning. "The real question is who. He was getting paid, but we have no way of tracing who was paying him. Dammit, we keep hitting dead ends!" Shadow looked like he could kill something.

"We're only a couple days in; we still have plenty of time." You weren't sure if you were reassuring yourself or Shadow.

"If they control a weapon of mass distraction, we're always going to be out of time," he growls. Something about the way he was acting felt strange, like you had somehow hit a nerve with just those few words.

You both went silent. It was thick; tension drifted between the both of you.

"...this feels familiar..." He grumbles. You almost didn't catch it. 

"..How so?" You ask hesitantly. His frown only deepens, and he shakes his head.

"Must just be some weird deja-vu type shit..." He continues. "We had better check out some more records. Maybe we could try the GUN files again. We do still have the keys, after all." 

It wasn't long until you were both back in the car, and making your way back to headquarters. It seemed like the drive took no time at all; it may have been because your thoughts were scrambled, or because you had little care to think about how quiet it really was.

"Back so soon?" Came the unimpressed voice of another agent when the both of you entered the headquarters. If looks could kill, he would have died right that second (between yours and Shadow's glare he would have been incinerated). The trudge back to the evidence and file room felt like a walk of shame. You were both met by a reprimanding commander.

"Just what do you two think you are doing, coming back here where you shouldn't have been in the first place?" He hisses. 

"You can't expect us to take a mission and somehow mystically solve the case without all of the information," Shadow says back, crossing his arms. You remained silent; you had been expecting this to happen; what else could you expect for stealing a key and breaking in to a strictly gaurded room? Your mind suddenly flew to the picture you had taken, and you hoped desperately that they didn't know that you had it. 

"You're both lucky I don't demote you. If I EVER catch wind of something this out of line again, I will have you stripped of your positions and of your work as a GUN agent." You weren't sure what he meant by the second threat, but it sounded rather negative. You muttered a quiet 'yes sir'. Shadow said nothing at all. The commander pushed past both of you.

"Go on in; there's nothing there that you haven't already seen." With that, he left. You huffed a bit once he was out of earshot, and pushed your way into the room. Shadow was close behind you.

You were both in there for what seemed like hours; searching for any information of the project at all, or on it's primary influencer, Alfred Landing. Shadow and you would both switch off; one of you would dig through paper files, the other would try and gather up any sort of evidence that might be closely related to the mission at hand. 

"So how much do you remember? You asked through the thick silence, when taking a small break in your digging. Shadow visibly stiffened.

"What do you mean?" he responds, turnign over a paper that was labeling the contents of the box in his hand. 

"Exactly that; how much do ou remmeber from before you were woken up?" You continue. "You did say you had recently woken up as well."

"...most of it..." He answered gruffly. "Not much leading up to what recently had me put down though." He left it at that. You didn't pry.

"Must be nice to at least know a little about yourself," You chuckles dryly, when silence begins to fall heavily again.

"Not as nice as you would think."

"But it's still something," you respond immediately. "To have a sense of identity, I mean. You know what has happened to you, I don't. I have to rely on a bunch of shady agents to tell me about myself, and something tells me it's not the truth."

"Yeah?" He mutters, sounding rather disinterested. You hardly cared if he was even listening; you were tired. It had been a long day. But you still had work to do. Talking would help keep you awake.

"Yeah."

"What makes you think that?"

"Just a hunch."

His gaze meets your own, and he raises an eyebrow.

"You're basing your entire sysem of belief on a hunch?" 

"What else do I have?"

It fell silent.

"But don't you think it's weird..." You yawned a bit, flipping through a file you thought might be useful. "...How GUN is being so loose? I think something might be up."

"Anomalies aren't as uncommon as you would think." And that was all he said. It was the end of the conversation, and you knew it. It would be a long, long night.


	8. Dead.

"Don't take my baby, I won't let you!"

"RUN Y/N. RUN!"

"Take the kid, we're gonna need a cleanup crew."

BANG-

You awoke in a cold sweat. You spun about, trying to make sense of where you were. The evidence room...

"Finally awake again?" he says from somewhere to the side. You look to see shadow sitting with his back against the wall.

"..yeah. Sorry about that." You stretch your arms, trying to get rid of the fog in your mind. It was quiet for a while. You both st still for what felt like hours.

"...You were crying," he finally mentions, obviously trying not to meet your gaze. You wipe at your eyes, and find trails of liquid there.

"Guess I was..." You trail off. You sigh heavily. "How long was I out?"

"Around three hours."

It fell silent again. It was tense. You knew it must have been awkward for him, having to witness a fully trained GUN agent whimpering and crying in their sleep like a child might. You knew a question hung in the air, one he wanted an answer to. You ignored it.

"Anything new?" You question.

"Found the name of the mental hospital he was administered to."

You were on your feet in an instant, much more alert. "What? When?!"

"Around an hour ago."

"And you didn't wake me up?!" You were hurriedly gathering up the files you wanted to hold on to; the rest you put away hastily.

"I figured you could use the rest," he says flatly, rolling his eyes. "Tired agents are less perceptive, and therefore an easy target."

You paused for a moment, turning to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Did you just say you don't want me getting hurt?" You ask, smirking only in the slightest. Shadow glares at you.

"I don't want you to die. Too much paperwork." He growls.

"Oh? Right, Mr. Tough Guy," you respond skeptically. He grumbles something and crosses his arms. You push no further, but your lips remain upturned in a small smile.

I wasn't too long until you were leaving headquarters. You weren't too happy about it,but Shadow decided to drive (he knew the address at this point, and huffily told you he didn't feel like having to spew directions the whole way there). You discovered on the way that you, for some strange reason, absolutely hated being the passenger of the car. our stomach churned a bit with every turn, and you kept you eyes on the road. Your knuckles were white. Shadow threw some shade at you, snickering at how you were turning pale. He still rolled down the window for you.

The hospital itself wasn't really impressive, as far as first impressions go. It was a plain building with a sign reading "ST. FOWLER MENTAL INSTITUTE" in bold lettering. Upon entering, the reception area was empty; nothing but a single woman behind a desk was there. You approached with confidence, flashing a badge at her when she looked up.

"Agent Y/n, we're here investigating a case on a patient that was administered here named Alfred Landing." You explain briefly. She blinks once at you, then turns to her computer, typing something in. She sighs a bit, and points behind her.

"We've got a box with some of his stuff in the back room. Jon should be back there on-duty, tell him Judy sent you back there."

You nod at her as a small thank you, then briskly make your way there. You find nobody, especially not a Jon.

"Guess we're just looking for the room then." Shadow says, peeking in a door. He closes it quickly; you raise a brow but don't bother asking what it was he saw. He did look rather uncomfortable, however.

"Found Jon..." He grumbles under his breath. You snicker.

"Pretty nurse?" You ask flatly.

"Ugly nurse. Must be desperate," he suggests. You laugh a little.

"For a supposed hospital they sure don't label anything," You grumble, changing the subject. You wandered to the end of the hall, and sopped by the last door. You tried the door; surprisingly, it was open. You saw several shelves full of random items and boxes.

"Hey Shadow, I found it," You call. He was by you in an instant, looking around. You flick on the light and wander in, peering through the boxes. Shadow heads through another row of shelves. You peek at clipboards and labels. You finally found one with the initials 'A.L.' written on it in bold letters. You pause, and pull the box off the shelf. You reach in and pull out a thick vanilla folder, and flip it open. Sure enough, there is an image of Alfred Landing, staring bewildered at the person capturing the image.

"Lucky guess," You mutter to yourself. 'A.L' could have been anyone. You weren't sure what Shadow was doing, but you were hoping he would hurry up and make his way over. You flip further into the papers, looking them over. Most of them were different diagnoses of what could have possibly been wrong with him, and more medical information on medications and practices he used. Towards the end it did change; these were roughly drawn sketched of something or another. You squint, trying to make some sort of sense of the image you were seeing.

A...person? No, a little girl, holding some sort of deformed stuffed animal. What a strange thing for the deranged man to draw. You flick past it, and find some sort of image. It was of three people; the man's face was scribbled out using a black marker, but there was also a woman and a baby. It looked like they were in a hospital; the woman looked tired, but she was smiling. The mysterious man was leaning intently close to her; you'd guess he was looking at the baby, a proud parent. You flipped it over, and read the scribbling on the back.

You failed

FAILURE

Get them BACK

MAKE THEM BETTER  
FIX IT  
FAILURE

Nonsensical insults covered the date that had been written there, making it unreadable.Whoever Alfred Landing was, he was been a sad, sad man. A hunch told you the man in the photo had been him, or at least someone he knew. And yet...he was recorded as never having had any living relatives. Maybe his family had died in some way?

You flip the photo back over, and stare at it for a short while, trying to somehow magically piece together something; anything. The woman appeared eerily familiar. On a whim, you pulled out the photo you had taken from evidence back at headquarters. It hit you like a bullet train.

"SHADOW-" you called,rushing to find him. You found him digging in a different box. He jumped up, looking ready to fight.

"What's wrong?" He asks quickly.

"Look at this!" You shove the images into his hands. "And this isn't even all that was in the box, I haven't gone through it all yet, but I found that picture back at headquarters. Why would there be the same woman in both of them? I thought he never had a family." A million theories were running through your mind Shadow stood there silently, which is not what you were expecting. You slowly became frustrated the longer he stood there pouring over the two images.

"...They must be dead." He finally says, slowly.

"But wouldn't they have at least been mentioned somewhere in other records?" You suggest immediately. "There's something about this Shadow, I know there is."

"Hunches don't get you far in this business," He finally says, turning back to whatever he had previously been digging through. You weren't sure what it was, but it looked like it had many random objects in it; you caught sight of an s/a that looked like yours, but in much more pristine condition.

"What are you going through?" You ask, peeking into the box.

"Looks like Landing had a lot of junk he kept with him, they must have put it int multiple boxes that got shuffled around." He answers. "You just keep looking, and I'll investigate here." You frown when he hands you back the images. Something just felt so off about them. You look at them both, including the man in the first. While his face was not visible in the second photo you had found, you had no doubt that it must be him, and in turn, that man must be Alfred Landing. But who really was Alfred Landing? A mad scientist? Or a dead man with a wish to fix his mistakes with his family?

You trudged back to the box you had been digging through, but when you dug through it some more, there wasn't much to find. Some bottles, a few more sketched of a little girl. You found a rather strange one at the bottom, of a shadowy figure holding up what you assumed was the same girl. There were little lines coming off of her form. You couldn't tell whether she was supposed to be glowing or just excited. Either way, you took the drawing.

"I found this..."

You nearly jumped out of your skin when Shadow spoke from right behind you.

"Yeezus- what is it?" You ask, turning to face him. He holds up some sort of bottle, and swishes the strange substance within it a bit. It was murky, looked very aged. You made a face. "What is that?"

"Something Landing shouldn't have been able to create; some sort of chemical formula, I'm assuming. Failed, but still something." He says. "You find anything else?"

"Some creepy drawings of some kid. I grabbed the weirdest one," You sigh. "I guess we should go and get that formula tested, get a full analysis of it."

Shadow nods, and you both leave.

Neither of you are aware of the eyes watching you.

"Yeah, they took the bait. Yes. You still paying me? You promised triple, remember? Oh, and that shiny gem of yours too, hun~"


	9. Puzzle Pieces

"They can't just throw us out of the case like that..." You grumble, huffing. You were out of breath; the metal training dummy was in pieces. the piles of metal knew your frustration well by now. You wipe your brow, and kick a piece laying on the floor. It lodges itself in the wall nearby.

"It's GUN, they do what they want," Shadow growls from near the door. You were honestly surprised he hadn't left yet.

"Fuck them and their confusing ass policies! We finally find something and they kick us off the case?" You sneer. "If they're gonna give us a job, they might as well let us go through with finishing it."

"They'll stick somebody else on it. It's out of our hair for now," he continues. He was watching you with almost faint amusement.

"Shadow, they literally told us this was a weapon of mass destruction! Some idiot gets their hands on it because GUN kicked us off of a case and I'll have that weighing above my head the rest of my miserable life." You were already targeting the next dummy; kick, right punch, kick, left punch...

Shadow was quiet for a moment, as if he was deep in thought.

"If it bugs you that badly...why don't you just take on the case anyways?" He says, slowly. You pause mid punch.

"Take on the case..." you repeat, furrowing your brows. It was a wild idea; GUN would be on you in an instant if they caught you. But there was just something nagging at your subconscious, something telling you that you needed to keep looking.

"I could..." You hum. Ideas were already flooding your mind. "Shadow, that's brilliant!" You were unwrapping the torn cloth around your knuckles. "I need to get going immediately, I need to start searching! I have a lead; I can find any relatives he might have had!"

"I didn't say you should follow that lead in particular." His expression was more grim than usual. "It could be a dead end." You frown at him.

"You don't know that, Shadow. I'm not going to leave out anything because of doubt; I need to know for certain." You were gone quickly, a blur. Shadow sighs, removing his gaze from where you once had been. He pulls out a journal he had found, frowning.

"I don't think you'll like what you find, Y/n..."

1.

My research has been going...less than smoothly. The chaos emeralds have been going haywire every time I try and place them into my machine. The deadline is coming closer and closer....If I can't present something to the commander soon, they'll start taking extreme measures.

It's been so long since I've been home to them...months. But I can't give up now.

I think I'd better get back to work.

-D/n l/n

6.

Something went wrong again, but this time we got some unexpected results. We were surprised when a strange liquid came smoldering out of the gun, fuming and glowing. At first we thought it was radioactive, but with testing we found it was actually just a reaction happening within it. We ran some analysis of it but can't determine it's exact makeup. We took several samples for testing to see if it could be useful to us.

Meanwhile, the gun still has made no progress. Other than the excretion of this liquid, it doesn't even power on fully. I don't know what else to do besides try re-configuring it again. Are energy levels too high because of the chaos emeralds? If that's the case, I might need to find a way to store or at least dissipate some of the energy present in order for things to work more smoothly.

GUN continues to breathe down my neck.

Back to work,

D/n l/n

7.

The expelled liquid from the gun turned murky overnight. Test results reveal little. It's inactive now, but we discovered that it is compatible with both organic materials as well as fuel for machinery. Different members of the team have been trying out small tests with it to see what we could do with it. Some say we may have discovered a new element, but I personally think it's more of a compound. It might possibly be a combination of metals and fuels formed in the high energy of the chaos emeralds, highly condensed and compressed.

The gun has made no progress.

-D/n l/n

24.

GUN cancelled research from our team on building the gun. I don't know why- although I have a hunch they just got impatient. Instead we'll be focusing solely on research for this new substance. We run the usual reactant tests; it seems to react with everything, no matter the chemical makeup. Huge amounts of energy are released when anything is dissolved in it; luckily our containment methods haven't melted.

One of the members of my team decided to test it with living beings, despite the obvious risks. We were all expecting the mouse to die upon contact with it due to a reaction with the saliva, but surprisingly, nothing happened. The mouse was fine, and nothing changed no matter how long we waited. No one has figured out why this happened, but we're trying to.

-D/n l/n

25.

We came in to the lab this morning and were surprised. We found the mouse dead; this wasn't what surprised us. What surprised us was we found the mouse dead in the middle of the floor, having literally broken it's way through the metal bars of the cage we had been keeping it in. There were no signs of injury to the body of the mouse. We will obtain more living subjects and more closely observe their internal reactions to this strange substance.

-D/n l/n

59.

It's been months. We've been studying the formula, adjusting it, trying to find a way to keep it from killing the subjects quite so quickly. The increase in physical capabilities is insane; subjects become stronger, faster, smarter...it could be revolutionary. GUN is pressing for answers because they're interested in use on human beings. I don't think it's safe. We've already killed around twenty mice testing this formula, just this month. The longest any subject lasted was 4 days. I would hate to see what would happen to a human, but GUN is persistent. They're becoming impatient again, I can feel it...I only fear what they might do next.

-D/n L/n

74.

They killed her. They killed my wife. They killed her because they wanted my daughter. Is slaving me away in this laboratory like a dog not enough for them? They had to take her too, they had to take m/n....They took her without mercy, without compassion. An agency to help the world? Damn this two-faced agency and their propaganda. They won't let me out; I already know. I don't know what has happened to my daughter. I don't know what they will turn her into.

I just don't know anymore.

GUN isn't even allowing me time to grieve...

-D/n L/n

82.

They are pushing us farther every day. We had our first human test subject today; a prisoner of GUN. Disposable. They forced us to give him the formula in large doses, shots straight into his system. He died writhing through every second of the agonizing serum. It did take effect rather quickly; ten minutes in he was screaming, had broken out of his restraints, and was pounding a hole into the wall. His body twisted every which way with his dying screams...

I can't get them out of my head.

They have made no mention of my daughter except to threaten me. They make no mention of my wife except to threaten me. They tell me they killed her because I was too slow, so they needed a replacement for me. They needed my daughter, and so they killed m/n. I feel like screaming too.

-D/n L/n

98.

I'm the last alive. When we ran out of test subjects, they started forcing the formula on other scientists. It was much more successful very small doses; they still died in pain. The longest we had one live was for three weeks.

-D/n l/n

.

We've ran out of subjects, we've ran out of subjects, we've ran out of subjects to use.

They killed the only one I loved, they killed the only one, they killed m/n, they killed her, and here I am, locked away in this damn lab while that little brat is being treated by GUN. They wanted her after they got impatient, and they killed m/n for her, they must have done it to get a hold of her, they must have. GUN wants a super soldier? I'll give them a super soldier. I'll give them the experiment they have been waiting for, I'll give them what they want. She'll hurt for random reasons and never know why; I'll kill her. I'll kill her slowly with this new formula, and GUN will let me see m/n again at last.

We'll just use the formula on her.

-Alfred

.

FAILURE  
KILL THEM  
KILL HER  
YOU SHOULD MAKE THEM BETTER  
FAILURE  
M/N  
Y/N

KILL

FORMULA  
SUPERSOLDIER


End file.
